231 mln holiday trips on China's trains

BEIJING, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's railways have sped passengers to their destinations 231 million times since this year's "chunyun" began 35 days ago, China Railway Corporation said Thursday.

Chunyun is the hectic travel period surrounding Spring Festival. This year, chunyun began on Jan. 16 and will end on Feb. 24.

On Wednesday, 6.65 million journeys were made on Chinese railways, and 6.7 million were expected for Thursday. The corporation plans to run 557 additional trains on Thursday to guarantee all passengers reaches their destinations.

The railway company said equipment maintenance and safety checks had been stepped up in response to the rain and snow of the last few days.

Although chunyun is nearing its end, the number of daily trips will remain high until Feb. 24 as students and workers get back to work. Migrant workers usually return to their hometowns for family reunions at New Year and return to the cities following the festivities.